Page 72 of Under the Table

“That he put his hand on her knee, and a bit higher after she moved his hand the first time.” Hope pressed her palm against Rex’s chest, playing gently with the hair there. “She said she told Josef.”

“And?” Rex stared at her directly now, invested in wherever this conversation was going.

“And he told her it was all in her head, I guess. I don’t really know what he said, but he wasn’t any help.” Hope sighed heavily and flopped down onto the mattress. “She doesn’t feel like she has anyone to turn to about it.”

Rex scoffed. “Well Julian shouldn’t have done that.”

“Is that really all you have to say?” Hope furrowed her brow and turned on him again. “Seriously?”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“I don’t know, but you should be mad about it. What if that was me?”

“He wouldn’t do that to you.” Rex shifted in the bed, but he didn’t look at Hope again.

“Why the hell not?” Anger seeped into Hope’s tone.

“Because you’re married, and I’m right there to remind him of that.” Rex’s lips thinned, but then he stopped. “I’ll keep my eye out, I guess. See if I notice anything when they’re in the room together.”

“That’s theleastyou could do.” There was a note of sarcasm to Hope’s tone, and she wasn’t even sorry that it was there. Sometimes he was just too male and too dense. Angrily, Hope got out of the bed and walked straight into the bathroom. She didn’t need to so stay there any longer and piss herself off even more.

She hopped into the shower to try and wake herself up for the rest of the day, because they had a long day of filming, including adding in another scene, the one that they hadn’t gotten to last night after Angelica had abruptly left.

Hope shampooed and conditioned her hair. Rex came in and started to get ready for his day, but then he just stopped and stared at her through the glass partition while she finished up. Hope finished her shower and snagged a towel to wrap herself up in it.

“What’s wrong?” Rex asked.

“I’m not asking because I like her, Rex. I’m asking because she’s a woman, and sometimes men are gross and disgusting and think they have a right to our bodies when they don’t. And you—” she poked a finger into his chest hard “—aren’t one of those disgusting men, which meansyouneed to stand up and put those disgusting men in their place. Stop making us do all the work for you.” She scoffed loudly and walked out of the bathroom.

“Hope!” Rex followed her, dragging his fingers through his hair. “There isn’t really anything I can do. Ange doesn’t exactly like me, and she didn’t tell me what happened.”

“No, she told her boss. Who is doing… guess what… absolutely nothing.” Hope rolled her eyes as she grabbed her clothes and started to get dressed. “That’s not right either.”

“No, it’s not.”

Hope sighed. At least they were getting onto the same page. Or perhaps it was more that Rex was finally aware there was a page for him to get on.

“This isn’t about my relationship with Ange,” Hope added as she dragged her pants up her legs. “This is about basic human decency and the right to bodily autonomy. Something that I’d hope you’d fight for, considering we have a daughter who’s going to face these very same issues in the next few years if you don’t do something different than you’ve done in the past.” Hope pulled her tank top on and tugged it down. “So?”

“Fine!” Rex threw his hands up, exasperated. “But it makes me uncomfortable to be looking afteryourgirlfriend.” He lowered his voice to just above a whisper when he said that last part. Hope glanced over at Eva, making sure that she was still asleep before slipping back into the bathroom.

“She isn’t my girlfriend.” Hope clenched her jaw hard. She wasn’t sure what they were to each other, honestly. And the fact that Angelica refused to speak to her about it still irked her.

“I thought you two were…” Rex trailed off, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“I don’t know what we are or aren’t.” Hope pulled on the zipper hoodie that she loved to wear in the mornings. “She’s not exactly in the mood to talk right now.”

Rex seemed compassionate about that, but he also didn’t say anything. She could understand why. It was an awkward conversation for both of them.

“If you keep an eye on Julian this week, I’d appreciate it. Not just for Ange, but for every other woman on our crew and in thishotel. I’d also like to be in as many of the scenes as possible to be a buffer.” Hope sighed. “And Ange isn’t going to like that.”

“Josef might, if you play up conflict.” Rex sat on the edge of the bed. “So that might be your way in.”

“Not a bad idea. I’ll think about it.” Hope crossed her arms and looked down at him. “I’m going to see if she wants to talk this morning.”

“Okay.”

Bending down, Hope kissed Rex hard once and then soft a second time. “Give Eva a kiss for me when she wakes up, all right?”